Joshua Lafazan reluctantly quits Syosset School Board

Nassau County’s youngest legislator, Joshua Lafazan of Syosset, reluctantly resigned from the Syosset School Board on New Year’s Eve after acknowledging that county law did not allow him to keep both positions.

Lafazan, 23, had planned to run for re-election to the school board this spring until he learned that the Nassau charter bars county legislators from holding any other public office.

However, Lafazan is not about to go quietly.

He posted on his Facebook page and emailed supporters that despite his resignation, he plans “on pursuing various courses of action to stay on the board.”

He explained that he doesn’t believe the “core functions” of an unpaid school board member conflict with his duties as a legislator. Given the ramifications of a school district’s budget, “we should want our most experienced public servants ON our school boards,” Lafazan wrote.

Finally, he said, “the voters should have the final say, not Nassau County.”

He said he will continue to attend the school board meetings and to hold the board accountable.

Lafazan, who was officially sworn in Friday with his fellow county legislators, is having his own ceremonial swearing-in Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Jericho High School.

The invitation says Lafazan will be sworn in by his “mentor,” State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who had been the youngest elected school board member in New York State until Lafazan won a seat on the Syosset Board in 2012 at the age of 18.

In an email to Newsday, Lafazan said he plans to announce many of his ideas for fighting the opioid crisis at the swearing-in Tuesday.